Liam Chipperfield: Big shoes to fill in Basel, but “not just ‘the next Chippi’”

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Liam Chipperfield has football and FC Basel 1893 in his blood. When the talented midfielder was born in the Swiss city in February 2004, his father Scott Chipperfield had already been playing for FCB for almost four years. Under his son’s watchful eye, the Australian international went on to win six Swiss championships and become a legend in Basel: No player from abroad has made more appearances for FCB. His son “started kicking shortly after he could walk, grew up with the sport,” the proud father recalled most recently in an interview with Blick.

Chipperfield junior had definitely been able to benefit from his father’s experience. “Until he moved to Australia three years ago, he was at every one of my games. He gave me a lot of advice, tips and suggestions for improvement and followed me closely,” the 17-year-old tells Transfermarkt. “Now he follows the games from Australia when possible and gives me feedback on my performance afterwards.” He also talks a lot with his mother, “who is an equally important reference person, in all areas of my life. And with my godfather, who also played football himself.”

Just under a year ago, Chipperfield’s rise in FCB’s youth ranks led to his first professional contract. Like his father, the Swiss youth international has a strong left foot, a good technique and can be used flexibly. For a midfielder, Chipperfield also offers a strong goal threat, scoring ten in 25 matches at U18 level. He describes himself as a “creative attacking player with a good overview” who still has room for improvement in defence. Since the 2021/22 season, Chipperfield has already been playing for the U21s in the third-tier Promotion League.

“We started the season well with the U21 team and were able to start a streak at the beginning,” says Chipperfield, looking back on his first steps in the senior side. He has scored three goals in 16 matches so far, but with 18 points from 18 games, the FCB reserves only sit in 14th place. “Most recently we struggled and faltered, and now we have failed to win our last nine games. We absolutely have to change that again in the second half of the season.”

Chipperfield: step backwards at FC Basel to U21 “mentally not easy”

For Chipperfield himself, the first half of the season was also a mixed experience. “I rate my personal start to the season as good until a month and a half ago. I was able to show consistent performances and also train a lot in the first team,” says the FCB talent, who was also able to pick up his first professional minutes in the Swiss Cup against fifth-division team FC Rorschach-Goldach 17 (3-0) in mid-September. “When I then trained and played exclusively in the U21s again due to the tight first-team schedule, I struggled a bit more. Accepting the situation was not easy mentally at the beginning.”

He says that since the summer he had been “very regularly” training with the first team. “After that, I was told that it would be better for my personal development if I trained in the U21s again from October and also played there regularly,” Chipperfield continues. “This because, on the one hand, the competition in the first team was very strong and, on the other hand, the training sessions practically consisted only of regeneration and match preparation due to the continuous midweek games.”

Xhaka, Embolo & Co. Players from FC Basel's academy Click here for overview The situation was “not entirely easy” for him at the beginning. “But I could understand it and I’m glad that now that the Promotion League is in the winter break, I can also be back in training with the first team,” explains Chipperfield, who at this moment also benefited from the experience of his father, who also worked with him “in the mental area” – “for example, to understand and accept the situation mentioned in the fall.”

I think there are many hoping that I can follow in my father’s footsteps.

Although the name Chipperfield raises expectations, the youngster wants to find his own path. “I think there are many hoping that I can follow in my father’s footsteps. But I have the feeling that people are also more cautious with me and aware of the fact that this could become a pressure situation for me. Maybe more so in the past than now,” Chipperfield says. “But it’s always been important to me to be perceived as Liam and to work hard to assert myself as Liam. And not simply as Scott Chipperfield’s son, as ‘the next Chippi.’”

When asked about other role models, for once the names of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo do not come up, but Jack Grealish. “He managed to play his way into the first team at his boyhood club Aston Villa and turn professional. Player-wise, he gives a lot of assists and scores goals – those are also the things I try to do in my game. Even though he plays mainly on the wing, he has mastered the game in the centre,” Chipperfield says of the Man City star. At FCB, he looks up to Taulant Xhaka. “He also took the step to the first team at his youth club, is a homegrown player and therefore a great role model for everyone in the youth team. He also helped me to quickly feel comfortable in the first team. He always has a light-hearted joke and integrates the young players quickly.”

On his way to the pros, Chipperfield completed a commercial apprenticeship in addition to football, which he successfully completed in the summer. “I had a lot of flexibility, which helped me a lot. For example, when training times were changed at short notice or we played away. For me, it was always important to have a second leg to stand on, even though the dream of professional football is still my top priority,” says Chipperfield, who in the long term would like to “take the definitive step to FCB’s first team.” “I want to establish myself as a regular player and play in the Champions League again with FCB. That would be a huge dream come true. What comes after that, we’ll see, I’m only 17 years old after all,” Chipperfield adds with a laugh.

Even though his father played 68 caps for Australia, Chipperfield clearly has a Swiss heart. “I’ve been in various squads regularly since the U15s, the first stage in the youth national teams. And of course, I dream of taking the step to the senior national team at some point,” Chipperfield says.

From December 1 to 24, we introduce new players from different countries born in 2004. Area managers, users, and data scouts come into play as experts throughout the series. You can follow all those players by adding them to your TM watchlist.